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An ad under the answer, picked by what is being asked
ChatGPT ads have run in Europe since 24 August 2026. OpenAI brought them to 31 markets at once: the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Since 31 August a company based in one of those countries can buy them itself in OpenAI's Ads Manager, without going through a sales team or an agency partner.
The ad sits below a ChatGPT answer, labelled and separate from the answer itself. In Europe OpenAI picks it from the content of the conversation in progress, not from a profile of the user. That makes the channel a cousin of search ads rather than of social ads.
Who sees the ads, and who never does
Ads only appear for people on the free tier and on Go, the low-cost plan. Anyone paying for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu sees none; what those plans cost is in ChatGPT pricing. Accounts identified as belonging to under-18s get no ads, and neither do Temporary Chats. Conversations about health, mental health or politics never carry an ad, and OpenAI does not accept political advertising at all.
For an advertiser that means you mostly reach consumers and freelancers on the free plan, and fewer of the companies that run ChatGPT Business. A software firm selling to large teams will reach those buyers poorly with ads. For them, being named in the answer itself matters more, see how to get found in ChatGPT.
- The current conversationPersonalized, outside EuropeCountsIn the EEA and SwitzerlandCounts, the main signal
- General location and languagePersonalized, outside EuropeCountsIn the EEA and SwitzerlandCounts
- Your landing page, copy and context hintsPersonalized, outside EuropeCountIn the EEA and SwitzerlandCount
- Past chats and memoryPersonalized, outside EuropeMay countIn the EEA and SwitzerlandDo not count
- How someone reacted to earlier adsPersonalized, outside EuropeMay countIn the EEA and SwitzerlandDoes not count
- Under 18, health, politicsPersonalized, outside EuropeNever an adIn the EEA and SwitzerlandNever an ad
Personalized ads are not initially available in the EEA or Switzerland. Advertisers never see the conversations.
No profile, so the question decides
In the US and elsewhere a user can switch on personalized ads; then past chats, ChatGPT's memory and how they reacted to earlier ads can count too. In the EEA and Switzerland that option is not available for now. There the system works from the current conversation, the general location and the language, plus what you supply as an advertiser: your landing page, title, copy and context hints. Those hints describe the topics your offer fits, but they are not exact-match keywords as in Google Ads.
Someone asking how to insulate a flat in Lyon may see an ad from an insulation company. Someone who talked about insulation yesterday and asks for a recipe today will not. You advertise on search intent inside a conversation, not on a person.
Advertisers never see the conversations. They get aggregated numbers only: impressions, clicks, CTR, spend, and the conversions they measure themselves. A UTM code on your landing page shows the traffic in your own analytics as well.
What a click costs and what you get for it
You buy in one of three ways: per thousand impressions (CPM), per click (CPC), or optimized for conversions while still paying per click. You set a maximum bid per ad group, and OpenAI recommends starting at USD 3 to 5 per click. The auction is second-price and weighted for relevance: you never pay more than your bid, often less.
| Maximum bid per click | Clicks for USD 750, at least | Requests at 3 percent | Cost per request, at most |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD 3 | 250 | 7 | USD 107 |
| USD 4 | 187 | 5 | USD 150 |
| USD 5 | 150 | 4 | USD 188 |
The 3 percent is an assumption, not an OpenAI figure; start from the conversion rate of your own Google Ads campaigns and check the result with the ROAS calculator. One thing to know when you monitor a test: spend can appear 7 to 8 hours late in the reports, so a zero in the morning does not mean nothing ran.
When a test pays off, and when to wait
- Choose ChatGPT ads ifyour offer needs explaining or comparing (a heat pump, accounting software, a training course) and you have a page that answers that question in full. A landing page per question beats your home page.
- Choose Google Ads first ifyour customer already knows what to type, such as "emergency plumber Rotterdam". Volume is larger and measurement more mature there; costs are in Google Ads cost.
- Choose Meta first ifyou sell on looks or impulse, without anyone asking a question. Meta ads or Google Ads sets them side by side.
- Choose visibility ifyou sell business to business to teams on paid plans. They see no ads, but they do see the answer. The difference between classic SEO and optimizing for AI answers is in SEO vs GEO.
Since 21 October 2026 the ads run in 89 countries, and more than 100,000 advertisers have used the platform. Competition in the auction is growing quickly; testing now means learning against lower bids.
What advertisers ask about ChatGPT ads
Can I target by age or interests in Europe?
No. Personalized ads are not available in the EEA or Switzerland for now. You steer with your landing page, copy, context hints and location.
Can the advertiser see what my customer typed?
No, advertisers only get aggregated numbers. If a user chooses to message an advertiser through an ad, the advertiser sees only that message.
Does an ad change what ChatGPT answers?
According to OpenAI, no. Ads run on a separate system, and advertisers cannot shape or rank the answer.
Can users switch the ads off?
By paying for Plus or Pro, or by choosing a free option without ads that allows fewer messages a day. That shrinks your audience a little further.